Keep Up Or Get Left Behind | 7 Figure Annuity Sales Podcast | Ep. 159

Hello, everyone. This is Chad Owen, the annuity sales coach. And right next to me is my wonder boy retirement.

They'll say, my wonder.

My wonder boy.

My boy. Your wonder boy.

That is true. That did sound a little weird. This is my son in love first, and then he's my retirement second, and then he's boy wonder third. So whatever order that needs to be in. We do have fun, though. I mean, how many fathers and son laws actually get have fun together?

That's true.

That's not common, of course.

Most of it's picking on each other back and forth.

It's true. Yeah, but you're good at my daughter, so you can stay alive. Of course. You better be careful how we say that too. Strike the xna on Caleb. Is that how you do that? I don't exit. No.

Xnay is like neck necks, I think.

See, I don't get it. I don't get. My family speaks pig Latin in front of me and I just don't get it. And they've tried to explain it to me and this dad brain just cannot grasp it.

So if you take the first.

No, I've already heard this a million times. What are we talking about today? Caleb. Okay, then say it right now. Say what? Say it. What are we talking about? Caleb in pig Latin.

Okay. Eeping K up. I don't know how to do a two letter word.

Okay.

Keeping up with the times, not getting left in the dust.

Okay, let's just do it.

Keeping up with the times and not getting left in the dust.

We've spent a minute and a half talking about pig Latin, Boy wonder. So let's. Let's get serious here.

But really, it's important to keep up with the times, you know?

Absolutely.

There's a lot of agents that do really, really well. They've been around for a long time. I mean, think about. Even for you, though, it wasn't until last year you started using E apps, right? Like late 2020.

Yeah.

Right.

I mean, actually I've regressed a little bit on that as well because I started looking at some of these E app company or what? Some of these companies will not take E signatures. So, I mean, I guess technically I could still do the E app and then get the physical transfer form done, but, you know.

Doesn'T matter to me.

Yeah, so it's on that in that regard. It's.

I mean, when I'm.

Yeah, that's true.

It's probably faster for you to write anyway. I can write it up faster than I can type it, but yeah, it's true, but is it better? Yeah, apps are definitely better and there will be a point to where they go to it. So if I don't change, you know, it's going to, it's going to be a bad thing.

Well, there's a, there's an efficiency aspect involved and I think that that's probably the horizon when it comes to virtual versus in person, which right now, if you were to take numbers and metrics, you look at virtual, there may be a few agents that would say I've actually done better virtually than I did in person.

I haven't talked to anybody.

I haven't either. But generally what you're going to find, quite frankly, is you're going to find lower closing rates and lower average case size. Yeah, there's, I mean, there's not two ways.

There's something about that face to face interaction. It's a relationship. I mean, that's really. I tell my kids this all the time. You know, if it's, if you're just having casual conversation, texting is okay.

Right.

If it's serious, pick up a phone and call. If it's really serious, then meeting face to face. And so, I mean, I'm driving three hours on Thursday to go and meet with my trust attorney. Why? Because that's pretty darn important. That's not something, I mean, this is the first time I'm meeting them, so I really want to get to know them. And who knows, maybe they can help my clients with some of their stuff. So, you know, I, when it's real important, it's that relationship. And I just haven't seen the virtual even remotely get close to any sort of interaction.

Right. I think in the future you'll see that and that'll be a part of Keeping up with the Times is doing more virtually. But we don't have the clientele right now. The people who are, who are in the market for these annuity products for their retirement, it's. It takes a pretty unique situation for them to be more, more prone to, you know, actually striking a deal virtually than in person.

Yeah. You know, it's funny, I just saw this this morning. It was some news article said I think 38% of people do their office, these virtual offices they have from their couch, 20% do their office from their bed. On their bed. Right. And then 38%, some number like that, they do it in their closet.

That's a high percentage.

That's a high percentage. I'm like going number one. How big is your closet?

That's a very good question.

You know because. And then. But you're trying to plan your work in your closet. It's just weird.

Yeah. And I would have a hard time like even they say they talk about the psychology of sleep and it's like you need to actually get up and go somewhere else to do things and establish in your mind your bed is like your place of rest.

Yeah. How do you focus? You know, I mean getting distracted. Yeah that's tough. But I hope honestly that doesn't become a normal sign of the times where we've got to do that. I don't see how it could. But then again they used to say that about life insurance too.

But keeping up with the times, not getting left in the dust. There's. There's really kind of five. I guess you could summarize it in three kind of key areas I think in, in regard to this. You've got products and carriers.

Yep.

Right. You've got systems and processes.

Sure.

Which your virtual would kind of appointments and that kind of thing would fall into systems and process. And then you've got technology.

Yeah.

I mean you, you're a big proponent of staying up to date with technology because there's so much that it actually affords you and allows you think about hotspot in and of itself.

Yep.

Right now with hotspot which I guess hotspots been around for a little while but there's plenty of agents that don't even consider using it. But what does it allow you to do is not be reliant upon client wi fi if you have to pull out your laptop and run an illustration.

Well some of these places ago my phone is quicker than their WI fi. That's true.

Is dial up even a thing I.

Haven'T run into in a long time but I can't even imagine that. I would probably just poke my hand in it with a pencil and just go what is going on? But yeah, but you even look at products, you know products there's. We go back to the indexed annuities mid-90s, you know 95, 96. Then you have income riders 2003, 2004. Then you had long term care benefits attached to them probably 12 and 13 I would imagine. I mean there are some that were before that, but ones that were considered decent. And I think if you don't stay up with times you're still that person that's a captivation agent that keeps pushing that same company when the product literally obsolete 10 years ago. You know, it's like caps. I rarely if ever. I can't recall the last time I put a cap in any sort of index strategy. They just have not been competitive. Now we have one right now. This is a 5.25% cap. But I looked and go, there's been some huge swings. And what happens if you go the entire year where it's 10%, but the end up the year with the negative? I mean, that's the problem. I'm a huge fan of participation rates.

And spreads, particularly in low volatility index or volatility control.

I like volatility control indexes. I like indexes that kind of are well spread out. And that's when somebody. It also helps when somebody says why? Is told I always have to be diversified. Well, these indexes have been designed to do that. That's kind of what they do.

Yeah, yeah. It's interesting too, because I mean that you talk about these different strategies and I mean, there are vastly more. I looked at a curve, a plotted curve of the number of index strategies offered in fixed indexed annuities over the past, like, I think it's 30 years. And it's like, I mean, it, it is vastly more in each product. So many products have five to 10 different strategies you can use. It's like, my goodness, that alone is something to try and stay on top of.

One part of that is each insurance company kind of wants to have their own claim to fame, you know, and I don't knock anybody for that. I mean, it can be very effective, especially if you do have an index that's done really well.

Right.

That nobody else can get to. That can be very beneficial. Yeah, but, you know, when it comes down to what's best for the client, you have to stay up. I mean, I'm constantly keeping my phone update, my computer up to date. Why? Seconds count.

It's true.

You know, if I have a quicker Internet speed, I jumped up to that 5G. And in the city, it's lightning fast. You get out a little ways and it still has a lot of help and needs a lot of help. But I can get things done quicker than most agents can. And I can do things that most agents can because, I mean, you'd be surprised. We get people that are still in an archaic way of doing business, an archaic way of technology. And I mean, I remember this president of a very, very, very, very large insurance company, up until about four years ago, still had a flip phone.

Okay.

I mean, like that. Now flip phones are coming back to where they're cool again, I guess.

Yeah.

But they're bigger vintage now. Yeah, retro. Yeah, retro. But you want to make sure that you're staying up to date with everything. I mean, I even go to what happens if you don't update your computer.

It struggles down.

Struggles. It doesn't work. The same thing works for me with technology, with product knowledge, with what the current environment, whether it's politically, economically, financially, what is the current market environment. You have to stay up to date on everything. I could go on and on. I mean this, this literally could be a five hour podcast because when you're talking up to date, there's so many areas you have to stay up to date to be successful.

Well, and I think the key too is don't forget what's been and where things have come from. Don't forget that, but just continue to learn what's new. Yeah, I heard you today talking to a client on the phone about, yeah, this is what they're doing now. And the reason they're doing this now is because of this back here. And you were like, you were kind of helping them see how things have actually progressed and how where we are now is, is actually really, really great stuff. We've got some really neat things that we can do with products.

Well, insurance companies are getting pretty innovative in what the client's looking for. I mean, obviously they're always looking out for their bottom line, but it's always the three legged stool. They got to make the client happy, they got to make the agent happy and they got to make their shareholders happy. And I would say for the most part, insurance companies have done really good. There was, I think, an unhealthy balance at one time where they're trying to make the agent too happy. And, and I don't think that's good because once again, it's not the agent's money, it's the client's money. Right. But I think they're doing a really good balance. But I'm also not going to sell a product that pays a 1% commission because that means I don't survive. It'll be like going to McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's or whatever. And you say, well, Wendy's decided to sell their drinks for 10 cents. Well, if they keep doing that, they're not going to be in business anymore.

Right.

Even though it's better for the client. I mean any business, any industry you could go to, you could say, wouldn't it be great if I could get things for above just a fraction above cost? Well, no, businesses will stay around.

Right.

So you you as the agent also has to look at this well, what is best for the client, what is best for you, what is best for the insurance company. But it's got to be balanced. It cannot be favored towards one or another. Now there have been plenty of times even as of right now, the product I use generally for most people, I. There are some that will pay more than that, but I can't find anything that's remotely competitive. I have a guy right now in an income, right. I can only go up to a million dollars with this company. He has 1.7 million. The number two is so far away from it right now, I just don't want to use it. I don't want to put any of his money in there. So I could have a $700,000 sale right now.

And you're going to leave it on.

The table and I'm going to leave it on the table till I find a better product.

There you go.

So, so it's just because there's where it's way better for the client once again because it's their money, right?

Yeah, that's absolutely right. Well, and you know, it's funny, that same conversation comes up in regard to client agent marketing organization. You know, a lot of times marketing organizations, they, they get it backwards. Marketing organizations will start pushing on their agents products that have the highest override spread. And then this agent gets convinced that this product is better. So then they start pushing that product with their clients and now their clients in an inferior product and the marketing organizations making out like a bandit.

And because the agent didn't take the time to figure out what if it's true or not, they're messing over their client.

Exactly. But it has to be, it's had.

A circumstance like that, right, where you actually show them the product.

And I was talking with an agent and they told me, they said, Caleb, my current IMO was pushing these two particular carriers on us. And I knew what the am best rating of both of those carriers was. And I had a hunch that they had a pretty outrageously high override spread on those for the, for the IMO level contract. And I told them what I thought the spread probably was on those, the override spread. And then I looked it up and it was confirmed that was the exact percentage. And they said I had no idea. It's like it makes sense to me now. I said listen, they have. And we looked at what that IMO actually had to offer, products wise. And we looked at those and I said they have even within themselves better products to offer than what these carriers can give you. But they're still pushing these. Why do you think that is?

And the thing is, I have no problem with my organization getting an override. You know, that's helping me. I just don't. They have a job, they have big offices. They have a lot of people. I have no problem with that. But when you know you're putting a client in a bad situation and you're putting an agent in a bad situation because you're picking the product based off of your override versus what's best, that's not a good situation to be.

Yeah. So the case in point being, stay up to date. Products and carriers stay up to date with systems and processes and stay up to date with technology.

And don't. Don't skimp on it. I mean, my phone and my computer have made me millions of dollars. Yeah. And it's all about efficiency.

That's right.

So I hope this helps you. You have a great day, and happy selling.

Sam.